


Initiation Rites

by clockworkgirl221



Series: The Communicator [1]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen, Martin Is A Secret Badass, Spells and Rituals, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-22
Updated: 2012-03-22
Packaged: 2017-11-02 09:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/367395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworkgirl221/pseuds/clockworkgirl221
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martin Crieff comes from a prominent witch family. With a brother who’s gifts lie with Electricity, and a sister who’s gift lies with Plants, not to mention their powerful mother and Fae-blooded father, Martin was expected to be a great witch as well. But his familiar never found him. Until now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Initiation Rites

Martin Crieff hadn’t told Douglas or Carolyn the whole truth of his situation. Yes, he was living in the attic as the friendly ghost pilot (not really), and he had very little food and too much work and no money from one job and little money from the other. His father had given him the van, though, because it seemed that Martin wouldn’t be part of the Family Legacy.

Martin Crieff was supposedly a witch. A failed witch, just as he thought he had been a failed pilot. He had no familiar, which was a sign that he really wasn’t following his Family Legacy. As one of the most powerful witch Clan in history, the Crieffs were supposed to follow the witch Path, which branched into several smaller Paths.

Their mother’s Path was Healing, and as the Matriarch (her husband had taken her last name instead of the other way around), she looked over the education of her two sons and daughter. Simon Crieff’s Path was Electricity, and Kaitlyn’s Path was Plants. Their father was half-Fae, so a little bit of Fae blood ran through the newest generation of the Crieff Clan.

But Martin was an anomaly, with no Path and no way to contact his Fae side because of it.

But that was all to change.

Martin Crieff was supposed to get up at seven to get to an MJN ‘job’ at ten. He had a succinct ritual in the morning, despite his lack-of-Path. Everything was a ritual to him thanks to the way he grew up. At 33 years old, however, he didn’t need to keep doing such rituals, because he knew he was a failed witch. But he must have had hope, for he kept on with his rituals, and kept his bell, knife, and Book of Shadows, which he let gather dust in a box under his sink. His rituals were, of course, non-magical, but they were practiced, just as a magical ritual would be.

His ritual was changed, however, when he woke up an hour before his alarm was to go off. Why? He felt pressure on his chest, and he heard a tiny voice purr in his ear: “Martin.”

He blinked grey eyes open a bit and let them focus. A small black cat (kitten?) stared at him, her paw on his chest and her wide blue eyes focused on him.

He didn’t want to scare her, but he was curious. Why had a talking cat come to find him? None of his family could talk to animals, unless that was the Path that chose one of the many cousins, or maybe his niece got her Path early… she was only three, but it could happen early or late…

“Morning, sleepy head. You look ridiculous,” the cat meowed as she stepped back, allowing the human to sit up on the cot that served as his bed. “Your mother wasn’t kidding about your living situation…”

“My mother sent you? She can’t speak to animals, though… only Heal them,” Martin pointed out.

“Martin, do you know who I am?” the cat asked.

Martin shook his head, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm.

“I am Calliope, your familiar…”

Martin stared at the cat—Calliope—for a moment, a bit dazed. “You must be mistaken, Ms. Calliope—“

“Calli—“

“ _Calli_ , but… I’m not a witch,” Martin said.

“Yes you are,” Calli replied, crooking her head to the side with a little smirk on her furry black face.

“But… I would have known when I was 16 whether I was a witch or not! Simon and Kaitlyn did!”

Calli’s smirk turned into a genuine smile, “You’re special,” she replied.

“No, I’m not!” Martin said, his pitch rising.

Calli bristled at the pitch change, and sighed, her shoulders slumping. She sat on Martin’s legs and then looked at her (silly) human. “You are a witch, because here I am, and here I am _speaking to you as if I’ve known you all my life._ You are a witch, but every Path wanted to choose you, and one finally won out in the end.”

Martin would have ignored this, but the explanation intrigued him to no end. “I—what?”

“You are special, my friend,” Calli explained, “because all the Paths wanted to choose you. As the youngest of the powerful Crieff Clan, all the Paths wanted to be yours. Finally, after seventeen years, one Path won. And so I am here now, and I am a permanent fixture.”

Martin blinked, and then a smile set on his face. “Oh… oh wow.”

Calli’s smile matched her human’s. “Yes, wow.”

“And what is it?” Martin asked. “My Path?”

“Communication,” the black cat replied, finally getting off her human’s legs.

“Communication,” Martin parroted back. “The Path of Communication.”

The Path of Communication meant that the witch that the Path chose could communicate with any animate or inanimate object he or she wanted to. He or she could tell it what to do, or how to fix it, or heal it. It was only a Speaking and Listening Path, but it was a big Path nonetheless.

“So… I could have been Communicating with GERT-I all these years?” Martin asked.

“Not really… but you can now,” Calli replied, a bit of a chuckle at the back of her throat.

Martin got up, knowing what he had to do now. “Oh… Oh wow…” he repeated.

He dug up a large box from under his sink and set it down on the floor. In it was a rusting bell and knife, as well as a black candle, a white candle, and a large book that was mostly blank pages.

He opened the book to the first page, which had ‘Initiation Rites’ written on the top.

He set up the bell, candles, and knife in the positions indicated and waited for his familiar to join him in the Circle he had cut with the knife. Lighting the candles, he said, “The Circle is cut, the candles are alight, and the players are seated.”

Calli repeated the words softly, her tail twitching as she sat, eyes closed.

Then she said, “Welcome, Martin Crieff, to your Path of Communication. Be not afraid of the voices you hear from here on out. They are the voices of objects, animals, and other forms of matter that may need your help. Speak up to anything that needs help, and they will want to help you in return to keep the balance of Karma. Do you promise to keep Karma in balance, and to follow your Path? To work with your familiar, not against, and to do no harm?”

Martin nodded, “I will protect the balance of Karma, follow the Path that chose me, work with my familiar, and do no harm.” Then, “The rituals from here on out are my own, researched and done to help us along the Path that chose us. I, Martin Crieff, do embrace my position as the Communicator of the Crieff Clan.”

“And I, Calliope Darkfur, do embrace my position as ally, adviser, and familiar to Martin Crieff, to help in rituals and general Work in his Path.”

Martin took his familiar’s paw, and the candles flickered with the power that surged between them until they suddenly went out. The two waited for a few moments, hardly breathing for fear of breaking the powerful silence in the tiny attic before Martin took up the bell and rang it three times, and the Rites were over with a sudden wind that rattled against the closed window.

Calli jumped up on Martin’s shoulders. “Welcome to your Path, kid.”

Martin breathed out slowly, taking in everything that had happened to him. “Wow… but now _more_ work for me…”

Calli only chuckled at this, “It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> This might turn out to be series... it depends on my Muse. Let me know if you would like to see more.
> 
> EDIT :: This has turned into a series at last! A second story in the new Communicator series will be out just as soon as possible, and will contain Carolyn/Herc and Martin/Douglas.


End file.
